The measurement of surface slip resistance is necessary to determine whether a surface is safe for walking of individuals or movement of equipment thereon, so as to prevent accidents for example. Slip meters for such purposes are generally known, such as the tribometer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,236 to English. Such slip meter instruments are designed for manually controlled testing of smooth or textured surfaces, involving manual movement of a slip index gauge, pressure adjustment of a hydraulic type of actuator and change of its air cylinder, and manual recording of slip index number. Furthermore, such prior art slip meters measure surface traction within a rather limited scale range, which often excludes some non-skid surfaces that are worn out. It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a slip meter device that is portable and avoids the manual labor intensive tasks heretofore required for operation thereof, as well as to improve operational capability so as to enlarge coverage of surface traction area including worn out non-skid surfaces and otherwise automate slip resistance measurement, as well as to make the slip meter device user friendly.